Contact lenses are usually applied to the eye and removed therefrom manually by the user. For application of a contact lens, the lens is placed concave side upward on a finger of the user and placed onto the cornea. For removal of the lens from the eye, the user grasps the lens at its edges using his thumb and forefinger to lift the lens off of the cornea. In the case of a soft contact lens, the user manually buckles the lens by pinching the grasped edges to lift the lens off the cornea. Many persons, however, experience considerable difficulty in placing and removing contact lenses, especially persons having limited manual dexterity and post-operative cataract patients who have minimal vision in the absence of the crystalline lens of the eye.
Devices have been proposed heretofore for application and removal of contact lenses, in general for use with hard contact lenses. None of the prior art devices has yet been wholly satisfactory, either with respect to facility of use or effectiveness of performance. This is especially so with respect to soft contact lenses which are subject to tearing or other damage. One known type of applicator employs a support on which a lens is placed and including means for aligning the lens with the user's eye prior to application of the lens. One such applicator is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,139,298 wherein the lens support is a cylindrical sleeve having a curved outer edge for placement of a lens, and having within the sleeve an illuminated bullseye target by which a user aligns the lens for placement onto the cornea. Another applicator employing an illuminated target is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,743,337 and includes an annular lens support provided at the opening of a translucent bottle containing an opthalmic liquid and which is supported on a handle containing a battery powered light source. The lens is retained on the support by surface tension of the liquid within the bottle.
Another known type of applicator is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,379,629 and 3,091,328 and which employs a suction cup for retaining a lens on a support for application to the eye or by which the lens is removed by suction from the eye. A further suction type removal device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,919,696 and which also includes an applicator having an eye cup which engages the eyelid to retract the skin around the eye to facilitate lens application. Yet another lens applicator, shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,031,918, includes a lens support ring carried on a frame which also includes a target for visual alignment during application. An applicator comprising a lens support ring adapted to be inserted on the finger of a user is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,132,887.